Keynote speaker choice miffs local Senate candidate

Published: Sunday, August 1, 2004 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, August 1, 2004 at 7:32 a.m.

Alabama's Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Wayne Sowell, said he was not invited to speak to the national Democratic convention in Boston despite his feeling that his nomination in Alabama was more historic than the nomination of Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama, who spoke Tuesday. Obama and Sowell are both black. But a news report from the convention said Obama would be the only black in the U.S. Senate if he wins his race, which Sowell said upset supporters.

"I saw that and I had quite a few calls today about it from people all over the state," Sowell said. "I was kind of miffed but I didn't want to make an issue about it because Obama had to work hard to get where he is."

Sowell said he believes it's more historically significant to be the first black nominated for the U.S. Senate from a major party in Alabama than it is for a black to be nominated in a state that already has had a black U.S. senator, Carol Moseley Braun.

"That's exactly what I thought," Sowell said.

He said Democrats could use his nomination to help show that Alabama has overcome some of the "racial hatred and bitterness of the past."

Sowell faces powerful three-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby in the November general election and polls show Shelby with a commanding lead.

Sowell said he hasn't received support from his party.

"I'm disappointed with the Alabama Democratic Party because I think they're overlooking a great opportunity not just to me but the state party itself because they can reach out across ethnic lines as I can do," Sowell said.

Party Executive Director Mike Kanarick and national party officials didn't respond to telephone calls or e-mail messages for response.

Business Council conference scheduled for next week

The Business Council of Alabama has scheduled its 17th Annual Governmental Affairs Conference next Saturday and Sunday at the Marriott Grand Hotel in Point Clear.

Invited to speak are Gov. Bob Riley, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, Speaker of the House Seth Hammett, Senate President Pro Tempore Lowell Barron and Speaker Pro Tempore Demetrius Newton, the BCA said. National political analyst Larry Sabato, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Sichan Siv, Alabama College System Chancellor Roy Johnson and Alabama Chief Justice Drayton Nabers also are invited speakers.

The conference is early this year because many schools begin classes Aug. 9.

The conference begins with a 7:30 a.m. breakfast featuring Riley.

It's scheduled to end at 10 a.m. Sunday.

Sentencing dates set

New sentencing dates have been set in Montgomery federal court for two high profile political operatives from the former Gov. Don Siegelman administration.

Former Siegelman confidante Lanny Young is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 9 and former aide Nick Bailey is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 4, according to federal court records. Their sentencings have been postponed before.

Federal prosecutor Louis Franklin Sr. announced June 23, 2003, that Bailey, the former head of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, pleaded guilty to bribery and false income tax charges. Young pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and embezzlement and false income tax charges.

The charges stemmed from a Montgomery corruption probe that prosecutors have continued.

Both Bailey and Young have appeared at a federal grand jury in Montgomery that is probing Siegelman's term as governor from 1999-2003.

<p>Alabama's Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Wayne Sowell, said he was not invited to speak to the national Democratic convention in Boston despite his feeling that his nomination in Alabama was more historic than the nomination of Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama, who spoke Tuesday. Obama and Sowell are both black. But a news report from the convention said Obama would be the only black in the U.S. Senate if he wins his race, which Sowell said upset supporters.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>"I saw that and I had quite a few calls today about it from people all over the state," Sowell said. "I was kind of miffed but I didn't want to make an issue about it because Obama had to work hard to get where he is."</p><p>Sowell said he believes it's more historically significant to be the first black nominated for the U.S. Senate from a major party in Alabama than it is for a black to be nominated in a state that already has had a black U.S. senator, Carol Moseley Braun.</p><p>"That's exactly what I thought," Sowell said.</p><p>He said Democrats could use his nomination to help show that Alabama has overcome some of the "racial hatred and bitterness of the past."</p><p>Sowell faces powerful three-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby in the November general election and polls show Shelby with a commanding lead.</p><p>Sowell said he hasn't received support from his party.</p><p>"I'm disappointed with the Alabama Democratic Party because I think they're overlooking a great opportunity not just to me but the state party itself because they can reach out across ethnic lines as I can do," Sowell said.</p><p>Party Executive Director Mike Kanarick and national party officials didn't respond to telephone calls or e-mail messages for response.</p><h3>Business Council conference scheduled for next week</h3>
<p>The Business Council of Alabama has scheduled its 17th Annual Governmental Affairs Conference next Saturday and Sunday at the Marriott Grand Hotel in Point Clear.</p><p>Invited to speak are Gov. Bob Riley, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, Speaker of the House Seth Hammett, Senate President Pro Tempore Lowell Barron and Speaker Pro Tempore Demetrius Newton, the BCA said. National political analyst Larry Sabato, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Sichan Siv, Alabama College System Chancellor Roy Johnson and Alabama Chief Justice Drayton Nabers also are invited speakers.</p><p>The conference is early this year because many schools begin classes Aug. 9.</p><p>The conference begins with a 7:30 a.m. breakfast featuring Riley.</p><p>It's scheduled to end at 10 a.m. Sunday.</p><h3>Sentencing dates set</h3>
<p>New sentencing dates have been set in Montgomery federal court for two high profile political operatives from the former Gov. Don Siegelman administration.</p><p>Former Siegelman confidante Lanny Young is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 9 and former aide Nick Bailey is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 4, according to federal court records. Their sentencings have been postponed before.</p><p>Federal prosecutor Louis Franklin Sr. announced June 23, 2003, that Bailey, the former head of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, pleaded guilty to bribery and false income tax charges. Young pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and embezzlement and false income tax charges.</p><p>The charges stemmed from a Montgomery corruption probe that prosecutors have continued.</p><p>Both Bailey and Young have appeared at a federal grand jury in Montgomery that is probing Siegelman's term as governor from 1999-2003.</p>